Impeachment Petition Reaches Enough Signatures

The petition to impeach UCDSU president Katie Ascough has reached enough signatures. In a public statement Finn McLysaght, President of Impeach UCDSU President said

“The intense speed and passion with which UCD students have shown their support for a referendum to impeach the UCDSU President conveys their anger and incredulity at her shamefully undemocratic actions. Although we have surpassed the number of signatures necessary to instigate an Impeachment Referendum by the end of the first day of physical collection, we are facilitating the signing of more students so that they can be properly represented.”

The statement continues:

“The UCDSU President not only censored information that we have been distributing for over twenty years, but did this under the guise of avoiding fines; despite the fact that the maximum fine we could have possibly received was less than the cost of reprinting the publication containing said information. The manner in which she did this also worries many students. The President overrode the other sabbatical officers’ collective stance, despite stating that she would “delegate,” and “facilitate” UCDSU’s stance on abortion. Many students who have signed this petition are fearful of whether more stances made by the other sabbatical officers, and UCD students as a whole, will be altered, or even overridden to assuage the UCDSU President.”

UCD for Choice member Jack Heron said: “We at UCD for Choice are encouraged to see the widespread support for the impeachment of Katie Ascough and the protection of the pro-choice mandate. We look forward to a clean and respectful referendum campaign and hope to build on this groundswell of support in the coming weeks.”

If the referendum goes ahead, of quorum of between 2,500-3,000 votes would need to be cast. Of these a majority would need to vote in favour impeachment.It should be noted that if a referendum is called, sabbatical officers must remain neutral on the issue.

Rachel O’Neill – Editor